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CarrieVS
Posts: 205 Forumite
FTB here. I'm going for a second look at a property and I'm not at all sure how much to offer if I decide I want it.
The house is the middle of a terrace of three: end properties are the same size as this one but one has a garage:
Sold as a new-build at the end of 2007 for £144k
End terrace with garage sold new for £153k, other for £142.5k, both in the same month.
This property sold again a year and a half ago (i.e. spring 2017) for £131k.
End terrace without garage sold in summer 2012 for £128k.
In this city prices haven't got back to pre-crash levels but have been steadily trending up for a few years. Asking price is £135k, i.e. 4k above what it was bought for last year (this is well within my budget). The house was let until the summer and is now empty, so the owner is keen for a quick sale, has said they don't care about making money on it, just want to get capital back. Says they priced it at what they expect to get.
My mum is insistent that the owner would take a much lower offer to get it off their hands quickly and that I shouldn't be swayed by a "sob story."
I don't want to pay over the odds but equally don't want to take advantage or feel that I ripped someone off when I have no need to drive a bargain to exhaustion to comfortably afford this house. On the other hand seller is a BTL landlord with several properties, apparently writing this one off and trying to recoup as much loss as possible: it's obviously a business decision for them and I suppose they'll accept if and only if they think it's worthwhile.
No need to tell me I'm overthinking this. Any advice? Does this sound like a significantly lower offer would be fair?
The house is the middle of a terrace of three: end properties are the same size as this one but one has a garage:
Sold as a new-build at the end of 2007 for £144k
End terrace with garage sold new for £153k, other for £142.5k, both in the same month.
This property sold again a year and a half ago (i.e. spring 2017) for £131k.
End terrace without garage sold in summer 2012 for £128k.
In this city prices haven't got back to pre-crash levels but have been steadily trending up for a few years. Asking price is £135k, i.e. 4k above what it was bought for last year (this is well within my budget). The house was let until the summer and is now empty, so the owner is keen for a quick sale, has said they don't care about making money on it, just want to get capital back. Says they priced it at what they expect to get.
My mum is insistent that the owner would take a much lower offer to get it off their hands quickly and that I shouldn't be swayed by a "sob story."
I don't want to pay over the odds but equally don't want to take advantage or feel that I ripped someone off when I have no need to drive a bargain to exhaustion to comfortably afford this house. On the other hand seller is a BTL landlord with several properties, apparently writing this one off and trying to recoup as much loss as possible: it's obviously a business decision for them and I suppose they'll accept if and only if they think it's worthwhile.
No need to tell me I'm overthinking this. Any advice? Does this sound like a significantly lower offer would be fair?
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Comments
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i'd offer lower first and then go higher maybe start at £125kThe futures bright the future is Ginger0
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they don't have to accept your offer.
its not taking advantage to see what you can get them to
go low as a starting point
their position is that they need to sell and that will have a deflationary impact on the price.0 -
At the end of the day, the vendor will accept the best offer that is on the table. As this is a BTL landlord with lots of properties, it sounds unlikely that they will accept an offer which is below the market value.
You are hardly in a unique position - there are lots of FTBs looking for a property worth around the £135k mark. The vendor will simply accept the best offer that is on the table.
Personally my first offer would be a bit below asking and I would negotiate from there. I don't think there would be any point in making a lowball unrealistic offer - the landlord will know what the market is.
You also have to think about how much you want the property. If you really want this property and intend to be there for some time, a couple of grand might not be a lot of money.
Ask yourself - would you be kicking yourself if a week later you found out that the property is being sold to someone else for the asking price? If so, and if the asking price is fair, there is a good argument for just offering the asking price to get the property ...0 -
I'm not sure what the "sob story" is that your mother refers to?
This doesn't sound like a distressed sale to me.
I'd still go in with a low offer. You've got nothing to lose.Selling off the UK's gold reserves at USD 276 per ounce was a really good idea, which I will not citicise in any way.0 -
Start low as you can always go up. You can't start high and expect to chip away at it til it's low again.The second man to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, Bobby Leach, survived the fall but later died as a result of slipping on a piece of orange peel.0
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If the vendor doesn't like your offer then they can say no.
I honestly would not worry about taking advantage of people when buying a house.
I think you should listen to your mother!!0 -
steampowered wrote: »At the end of the day, the vendor will accept the best offer that is on the table. As this is a BTL landlord with lots of properties, it sounds unlikely that they will accept an offer which is below the market value.
You are hardly in a unique position - there are lots of FTBs looking for a property worth around the £135k mark. The vendor will simply accept the best offer that is on the table.
Personally my first offer would be a bit below asking and I would negotiate from there. I don't think there would be any point in making a lowball unrealistic offer - the landlord will know what the market is.
You also have to think about how much you want the property. If you really want this property and intend to be there for some time, a couple of grand might not be a lot of money.
Ask yourself - would you be kicking yourself if a week later you found out that the property is being sold to someone else for the asking price? If so, and if the asking price is fair, there is a good argument for just offering the asking price to get the property ...
Probably makes it more likely IMO, last thing they want is loads of empty property to maintain.0 -
PersianCatLady wrote: »If the vendor doesn't like your offer then they can say no.
I honestly would not worry about taking advantage of people when buying a house.
I think you should listen to your mother!!
Good advice.0
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